Go Tell it On The Mountain
Notes
Transcript
Have you ever heard the song “Go Tell it on the Mountain?”
some songs just make you HAPPY
About the SHEPHERDS in the field:
8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep.
Shepherds
Not most respectable job
Didn’t require advanced skills
Job included:
guarding sheep
guiding sheep
making sure sheep had adequate food
tending and caring for sheep
So these normal, average or less than average guys are in the fields, guarding their sheep...
9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified,
God speaking to man was all but legend at this point
These were not fearful men
They were accustomed to fighting off wild animals and beasts
Tonight, they were TERRIFIED
10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.
Generally what angels have to do when they appear, tell people not to be afraid
Have to imagine this angel told his friends “should have seen their faces”
BIGGEST understatement in history
What message did he have for them?
11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!
12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
Literally the best news humanity has ever been given!!!
Who does God announce it to first?!?!
Shepherds...
HEAR. THAT. THIS MORNING.
You may feel like the biggest failure since the guy who invented cooked vegetables
26 Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you.
27 Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.
28 God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important.
Has the enemy ever tried to convince you you’re not qualified to accomplish what God calls you to???
Imagine being a shepherd
you have accepted your place in life
you know you’ll never be anything in society
you really only feel comfortable associating with people in your social class
you don’t look or sound ANYTHING like the esteemed Pharisees or Sadducees
And God breaks his 400 YEARS of silence to send an angel to talk to YOU
And not just for a quick chat or even a mission,
but to tell you the LONG AWAITED MESSIAH HAS ARRIVED
And if the shepherds minds weren’t blown YET
13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
As if ONE terror-inducing angelic being wasn’t enough
the ARMIES OF HEAVEN show up
If you don’t think there was a moment of self-doubt here,
When you’re society’s outcasts and the ARMIES OF HEAVEN provide you with an angelic concert
You may wonder for just a second “why me?!?!”
Whether or not the shepherds had a moment of self-doubt,
they chose to focus on the message more than the messengers
15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
So after THE MOST INCREDIBLE CONCERT EVER,
The shepherds make the wise decision to skedaddle on over to Bethlehem
16 They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger.
I feel like the word hurried here is another understatement
I think “moved at a pace which at my age would do permanent damage” would be more accurate
No surprise these unworthy shepherds find the Savior of the world just as the angels had described it
What do these outcasts,
these nobodys
these unworthy and uneducated shepherds do with this news?
They GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAINS
17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child.
They focus more on the MESSAGE than the MESSENGERS
Notice everyone’s reaction to these outcasts,
these nobodys
these unworthy and uneducated shepherds:
18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished,
19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.
The message OUTSHONE their INADEQUACY
And the audience is left ASTONISHED
Think about Mary here for a second
God’s plans CONFOUNDED their EXPECTATIONS
See how the situation leaves the shepherds
Who started this evening just watching sheep and accepting their place in life
20 The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.
Do you think the shepherds EVER stopped talking about that night?
These shepherds went back to work
but were NEVER the same again
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
What can we take away from what happened that night?
focus on the MESSAGE over the MESSENGER
focus on the MESSAGE over the MESSENGER
allow the message to OUTSHINE your INADEQUACY
allow the message to OUTSHINE your INADEQUACY
expect God’s plan to CONFOUND your EXPECTATIONS
expect God’s plan to CONFOUND your EXPECTATIONS